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Dybantsa arrived in full force, yet Washington still let another winnable game completely slip away.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Had A.J. DeBonson in the lineup for the first time in Cleveland.
00:03He did not disappoint.
00:04When we finished the show yesterday, we were wondering whether he might play.
00:08I didn't think he would, but we got word right after the show.
00:11C.K. said, yeah, they're going to list him as probable.
00:14And he plays, and he did not disappoint.
00:16Nine points in the first quarter.
00:18So right off the bat, you saw him score,
00:19which was the most points by a rookie for the Washington franchise
00:23since 1996-1997.
00:25In the first quarter.
00:27Yes.
00:27He ends up with 19 points.
00:30And it's just easy for him.
00:31I really should sell my six-tenths of a Bitcoin or whatever
00:35and just buy the most expensive A.J. DeBonson rookie card I can afford
00:39because he's not going to disappoint.
00:41And what you saw on that call, you hear him dunk,
00:43but you saw him hit a three-pointer,
00:45and that's not the strength of his game right now.
00:47But his mid-range game is really easy.
00:50When he takes a couple dribbles and gets into the paint,
00:53he can just jump over you, and he can knock down that 12-15-foot shot.
00:57His moves, his skill set is insane.
01:00It's just that he's a long, athletic dude who's got a lot of skills.
01:03He's got confidence, the swagger, the way he plays, his intelligence, his IQ.
01:09I mean, you know, the three-point shot is by far the biggest weakness in his game.
01:14Yeah.
01:15The one he hit looked good.
01:16Like, he's got good form.
01:18He's just got to rep it out.
01:19Yeah, it's just going to take more, more, more, more, more, more reps.
01:22As a team, they've got to do much better shooting the three
01:25because they're near the bottom of the league through five games.
01:28Well, like, Keyshawn's shooting, like, a really low percent from threes,
01:30and last year he shot 38%, so he'll be better.
01:33I mean, that'll get back to that.
01:34Trae Young, that'll get better.
01:37He's only shooting 30%.
01:38He's got to shoot a little bit better.
01:39They've got rebounds.
01:3927%, really.
01:40You know, they're getting killed on the glass.
01:43That's the big Achilles heel.
01:45So they're 2-3 right now to start the season.
01:47They faced Charlotte rematch game on Friday.
01:52Their Achilles heel is rebounding.
01:54They were out-rebounded by 20 yesterday,
01:56and all three losses, they've been out-rebounded by double digits.
02:001-800-636-1067 is the number if you want to chime in.
02:04Did you check in to A.J. DeBonce's debut?
02:07There's been a lot of excitement about this Washington Wizards team.
02:10What is your takeaway after five games until early?
02:13I do think Alex Sar was listening to the show
02:16because he responded with some offense.
02:18He scored 18 points.
02:20It was a dunk fest early.
02:21It was a typical NBA game early.
02:24Little defense.
02:24Yeah, he was right, but like you said,
02:28it was the rebounding that was kind of the difference,
02:30especially offensive rebounding,
02:31because Allen and Mobley were just killing them.
02:33They were getting a ton of offensive rebounds,
02:34kicking them back out.
02:36Yeah, but in the first half, that really didn't happen.
02:38No, the first half.
02:39First half, they were really good, yeah.
02:41Well, in the first half, they scored 69 points.
02:43Right.
02:43Second half.
02:44Cleveland played zero defense in the first half.
02:46Right, and then they kicked it in,
02:47and they said, look, we're not losing to the Wizards at home,
02:50and then that's what happened in the fourth quarter.
02:51The better team won, but there's so much potential there.
02:55It's super exciting.
02:56Yeah, Bilal had a bunch of dunks.
02:58If Cakes was here, he'd be fired up.
03:00He finished with 17 points off the bench.
03:01So, A.J. has slid into the starting unit,
03:05and the starting unit is kind of how we projected.
03:09It's Anthony Davis and Saar with A.J. DeBonsa.
03:13That is a big front court.
03:15It's really imposing.
03:15It's a shame that they're getting blown out on the boards like that.
03:20And Jason is referencing a sequence
03:23where they got about four or five offensive rebounds in a row.
03:26And, you know, I don't know.
03:27I don't think it's for lack of effort.
03:28I see the guys trying.
03:29It's just got to be a bigger point of emphasis.
03:32They still take some shots that are stupid.
03:34Bub, in particular, took a pull-up three in transition
03:38that was insane with, you know, 23 seconds left on a shot.
03:43It was just an insane shot.
03:45So, they've got to be better at that.
03:47But the rebounding is atrocious.
03:49Anthony Davis and Alex Saar are both seven-footers.
03:52They finished with combined nine rebounds.
03:56And you saw this against Charlotte.
03:57Diabate ate them up.
03:59I think he finished with 17 rebounds in that game.
04:02And, look, Cleveland's a good team.
04:04And they've got some front court players
04:06and Jared Allen and Evan Mobley who have,
04:08I think, both have been all-stars.
04:11Sure.
04:11They both finished with 12 rebounds.
04:14Allen had three blocks.
04:15So, that's a big front court you're combating.
04:18But Anthony Davis has to do better.
04:20Alex Saar has to do better.
04:21Yeah.
04:22I agree.
04:22The entire starting lineup has to do better on the boards.
04:25Yeah.
04:26I agree.
04:26Peyton Watson had five offensive rebounds for Cleveland.
04:29Yeah.
04:29So, I think they had 15 offensive rebounds.
04:31It's a shame, despite all that.
04:32I mean, they were up 16 for a moment.
04:35They were up 13 quite a few times.
04:37And just, you know, and then just like a blink of an eye,
04:39like the NBA, like no lead is safe.
04:41Right.
04:41And they were trading twos for threes
04:43because they were getting so many lobs, so many dunks.
04:46And then they were just, you know,
04:47Cleveland just come down there and just bust a three
04:48and just kind of trading twos for threes.
04:50The Wizards had eight.
04:52Outscored 62 to 41, I believe, in the second half.
04:56Wizards had eight three-pointers.
04:57Cleveland had 14.
04:591-800-636-167.
05:01And though it's early, I see some social media buzz.
05:06Uh-huh.
05:06And we said this before the season.
05:09And now, Brian Keefe is going to be judged as a coach.
05:13Yeah.
05:13And what you've seen in the losses is end-of-game situations,
05:18they have not been flourishing.
05:20Uh-huh.
05:20So in this case, big lead, it dissipates,
05:24and end of the game, it just completely slips away from them.
05:28We also make it some weird choices, like Chris Middleton at this stage.
05:33I don't know why he's playing so much,
05:35but I don't know who he can defend, such an old guy.
05:38Right.
05:39And he's probably not going to give you much offensively.
05:42I know that Will Riley's still young and not strong enough yet,
05:46but I'd probably rather see him.
05:48I think it hurt not having Trey Johnson, too, especially from threes.
05:52But look.
05:52Yeah, so Johnson was out.
05:55Yeah, he was out.
05:56With Achilles strength.
05:57Right, because he would have played.
06:01I mean, he would have played, especially in the second half.
06:02I think he would have helped, too, with the three-point shooting.
06:04With the three-pointer, yeah.
06:05Will Riley is becoming, like, the popular backup quarterback
06:08who all the fans want in the game.
06:10Like, it's becoming untenable almost at this point.
06:13Well, I think they should play him over Chris,
06:14but I'm not saying he would be the difference.
06:16I'm not saying he deserves minutes.
06:16Chris Middleton playing 23 minutes seems outrageous, right,
06:20without Will playing at all.
06:21But clearly, if they can't stop anybody on defense in the second half,
06:25Will Riley's not going to fix that himself.
06:26Yeah, he's not to solve for that.
06:27No, no, no.
06:28Nobody's saying that.
06:30But you've got to find him a couple minutes.
06:31But, yeah, JP's right.
06:33There is a question.
06:36I mean, it's super early.
06:38They're two and three.
06:39I'm talking about my own reason.
06:40I know.
06:41I know what you're saying.
06:43I mean, you know.
06:44But you're right.
06:44He's going to be judged.
06:45He's got to be with this roster.
06:47But, again, it's five games in,
06:49and he talked about it when we had him on the show on Tuesday.
06:53They're trying to find a routine with the chemistry that they got
06:57because it's DeBonce's first game.
06:59And they'll find it.
07:00I was happy that Sar played well offensively.
07:04He's got to do more.
07:05He shows he has life offensively.
07:06He's got to do more on the boards.
07:08I don't know how, you know.
07:10You always just say it's effort,
07:11and I don't want to say they're not giving effort.
07:13I see them running around flying around and giving effort,
07:15but those second and third and fourth and fifth chances,
07:19it's just they're brutal to watch.
07:22What's crazy to me is four or five games into the season,
07:25if you were to look at the standings
07:27and you look at where teams are positioned for the playoffs
07:31in the Eastern Conference,
07:33it's about where it's going to end, in my opinion.
07:36So right now the Wizards are a play-in team,
07:40and that's kind of where I think they're going to end
07:42because Detroit, the Sixers, Raptors, Celtics, Cavs,
07:47those five teams are all legit.
07:49Right.
07:50I think that the one team which could slide up from the bottom,
07:54maybe Orlando and then the Miami Heat.
07:57Right.
07:57Miami Heat off to a terrible start.
07:59They finally got their first win the other night.
08:02So it'll be a little shake-up,
08:04but I think that's kind of where the Wizards are going to be battling for.
08:10Battling for one of those play-in spots.
08:13You know, the absolute best-case situation would be a six-seed,
08:17in my opinion,
08:17and maybe some people, some fans got over their skis.
08:23All that said,
08:24I think you take away the positives.
08:26Sar looked good last night.
08:27Bilal looked good last night.
08:29A.J. DeBonsa, most importantly, looked really good.
08:32DeBonsa is so legit.
08:34I mean, he'll have bad games, but he's so legit.
08:36He's just completely unflustered.
08:39Yes.
08:40Completely unflustered.
08:41He was ready for the NBA last year.
08:43I mean, it's crazy.
08:45I don't know.
08:45I mean, I'm sure there's been plenty of guys,
08:47but, man, he just steps right in.
08:49And, I mean, he's incredible.
08:53And, you know, J.P. and I go back and forth.
08:55J.P.'s not a Trey Young fan.
08:56I think he's super fun to watch.
08:58His lobs are crazy.
09:00Well, he can be a fun player to watch.
09:02I just don't think he's an upper-tier point guard in the NBA.
09:05Yeah, I don't know where he ranks.
09:06That could care less.
09:07I think he's, for this team, he's awesome.
09:10It's really fun to watch.
09:13And his shooting will get better.
09:15I think his shooting will get better.
09:16It'll be probably what it is.
09:18It's, like, sort of over his career.
09:19It's not going to be extraordinary.
09:20His shooting percentage, though, has gone down in recent years,
09:24which is a little troubling.
09:25But he's got to be better than 27% from threes.
09:27I said all along, though.
09:28He's going to have games where he's going to score 45 points.
09:30Of course.
09:30But he's also, I think he's showing you that he's not just all about him.
09:34I mean, he, there's a reason why he leads the league in assists.
09:37I mean, he's looking for other guys.
09:38He's looking to involve other guys.
09:39That's the other thing about A.J.
09:40A.J. is just having that IQ, looking for other guys,
09:45you know, giving up lobs to everybody.
09:46You know, they were making a joke about it on the broadcast last night.
09:50He was going to need some sort of nickname for this team and all the lobs.
09:53And I was even throwing in some names.
09:54But I thought somebody, maybe somebody else has had it
09:56and it's been out there for a while, but somebody said D.C. Dunk City.
09:59I thought that was a pretty darn great nickname, potentially, for this team.
10:03But the downside to it is you keep trading dunks for threes.
10:08You're not going to be on the right side of that.
10:10Unfortunately, the way the league is played, you've got to hit more threes than eight.
10:14Yes.
10:15And that's a problem.
10:16Right now, I think they rank 29th in the league in three-point percentage.
10:19They've got to hit more threes.
10:20I hate it, but it's the way the game is.
10:23But there are some teams that are off to bad starts that are going to be up there.
10:26I mean, Orlando is going to be better than the 11th team.
10:29Miami, off to an 1-4 start, they're going to be better than that.
10:32So I would think that there's at least two teams that are going to skyrocket up the standings
10:38over the course of the season.
10:39I think they're showing you that they're a young team, even with Trey and Anthony Davis,
10:43and they've got to figure out there's something to be said for learning how to win.
10:48Got to close out, especially on the road.
10:50They've got to learn how to win.
10:51They'll have their growing pains.
10:52But you could make the argument that they could be 0-5 because they took stretches
10:56where they stole a couple games.
10:58But you could also make the argument, too, if they could have hunkered down,
11:00they could have won a couple extra.
11:02So maybe they are where they should be at 2-3.
11:05I don't know.
11:06They haven't played a complete 60-minute game or whatever it is, 48-minute game yet.
11:11They just haven't.
11:12Yeah, right.
11:12Let's go to the phones.
11:131-800-636-106-7.
11:15There's been a lot of buzz about the Washington Wizards.
11:18We've been playing Bullets Fever.
11:20You finally got to see A.J. DeBansa last night.
11:22Your thoughts on an open line Thursday.
11:24All right, let's go to Reggie in D.C.
11:27Reggie, hey, Reggie, what's up, man?
11:28Y'all with a chunk.
11:29Reggie, Reggie.
11:30Hey, what's going on, fellas?
11:31Top of the morning.
11:32Hey, man, this coach got to go, man.
11:33Give me Jason Kidd.
11:34I don't like his rotation.
11:35No, seriously, man.
11:36I don't like his rotation.
11:37I don't see no steps.
11:40Like, Buggs is coming down just out of control.
11:43That three made me nutty.
11:43Sometimes I'm looking at Anthony Davis.
11:45He's like, he's holding his hand up, like what we call it, what we running.
11:50I keep picking roll every single time up the court.
11:53Man, give me Jason Kidd.
11:54And, again, we'll see about the midway point when we're hovering around 500.
11:59But I don't like his rotation.
12:01Chris Middleton.
12:02And, again, we're rallying.
12:03I don't know who else that you can play.
12:05But he should not be playing 23 minutes.
12:09Then I'm looking at some of the lineups with Devonta, A.D. and Trey Witten.
12:14And then I'm like, where's the offense going to come from?
12:17So I know, again, it's early and he's experimenting with rotations.
12:22He had one where he had Keyshawn, I think Aiton.
12:26Like, yeah, all the big guys out there.
12:27I think Keyshawn was running point, which was aight.
12:31But then what offense of sex are you calling?
12:34So I don't know, man.
12:36I think this guy, man, is going to be in over his head with the expectations.
12:42But you got like a borderline Hall of Fame coach that's sitting out there, man.
12:46Let's get somebody real in here before you start to see people start to, you know,
12:51clamor in the locker room that they're not happy.
12:53I'm watching that game yesterday.
12:55I mean, I don't see the sex.
12:56I just see running up and down the court, pick and roll, and that's it.
12:59But, again, maybe it's early.
13:01He's trying to figure it out.
13:02But they're killing Derek Quinn.
13:05Man, they need to be killing this dude.
13:06I don't care if it's five games.
13:07Because if you're watching a game, what are we doing on offense?
13:10I just don't see it, man.
13:12I don't see it.
13:12The one thing I'll say is I watch a lot of NBA.
13:16Pick and roll is the number one play used in the NBA.
13:20So, when you're talking about offensive sets, especially in the NBA, I mean, even college basketball is like this right
13:27now.
13:27You're just trying to find advantageous matchups, and you're going to run pick and roll.
13:33That's what you're going to do.
13:34It's just the way it is.
13:36Well, you've got to shoot.
13:39The game is all about three-point shooting now.
13:41It's about perimeter shooting.
13:43That's what you've got to do.
13:44You've got to, because teams are taking 40 to 50 three-point shots.
13:49You've got to hit them.
13:50You've got to hit a good percentage of them.
13:52Well, like I said, dude, they were trading twos for threes.
13:55The lobs are awesome.
13:56They really are awesome.
13:59But when the other team just goes down there and calmly hits a three, it catches up.
14:04Correct.
14:05Yeah.
14:07If they're significantly better than eight for 32 last night, they probably win a game.
14:13They only had to hit a couple of them, because they had moments there where they could have just pulled
14:17away.
14:17But it's all good.
14:18It's a learning thing.
14:19We'll see.
14:20I have no idea what they're going to do with wins.
14:22No idea.
14:23Open line Thursday?
14:24JP, I think you're right.
14:25I think they'll be hovering in that lower play-in spots.
14:319-10, 8-9-10, maybe.
14:32I think I'm pretty sure they're going to be fun to watch every night, even if they crash and burn
14:37in the fourth quarter.
14:38And maybe that'll just get old.
14:40But, man, there's a lot of excitement, at least for me.
14:44I think there is reason to be excited.
14:47I just had this conversation with Drab during the break yesterday.
14:51I think they're a 32-win team.
14:53He was a little bit higher than that.
14:5532 wins is a significant jump from last year.
14:58I just don't even – I don't know.
15:00I don't know.
15:00I don't know what last year could have won.
15:01They didn't even try.
15:02Yeah, but if 32 wins doesn't even get you to the play-in, that's not good.
15:07You've got to be better than that.
15:08Probably not good enough.
15:10In their defense, they haven't said it's a playoff or bust season.
15:14They want to win, but they're kind of saying it as – they're framing it as – maybe it's just
15:19to give them some room.
15:23But they're saying it's a learn-how-to-win season.
15:25But that's his next step.
15:27That's what Will and them told us.
15:29They told the fans to slow down.
15:31It's the fans that are the ones that are getting carried away because we've got AD and Trey and AJ.
15:37So everyone's thinking, oh, we're 4-5 seed in the East.
15:40They know.
15:41There's a lot of growth to have.
15:43There's definitely not a 4-5 seed.
15:44They can play.
15:45They've got to play an entire game.
15:47I still think it's a 50-50 proposition that AD's here in February.
15:54Well, we've got to see how they're playing.
15:55Well, especially if they just are losing.
15:57Yeah.
15:58You know, I think if they're winning, it would be harder to get rid of them.
16:01But if he's playing a ton, he's playing well, and they're still losing, I could maybe see that.
16:06Let's go to James.
16:07James, what's up, man?
16:08It's Open Line Thursday.
16:09He has to steer the show.
16:10What's going on?
16:13Hey, guys.
16:14How's it going?
16:14What's up?
16:15We're good.
16:15What's up?
16:17You can turn off your blinker.
16:19Yeah, sorry.
16:20It's probably out of light.
16:21My bad.
16:24Yeah, so this is a must-win game Sunday, obviously, to save the season.
16:31But if it doesn't happen our way, if we don't come out with a win,
16:35do we consider sitting Jaden or sending him out to get the surgery on his elbow
16:40and just trying to make the best of it?
16:43Remember when I told you it was going to happen?
16:45What we got?
16:45If we lose, people were going to advocate to bench Jaden, rest him, and just start taking it.
16:51Whatever he needs to do with his elbow, he can do it in the offseason.
16:53I don't think you'd do it now.
16:54Yeah, they've already proven that.
16:56That was the first one he beat.
16:57But I would say...
16:58What?
16:59The Trump beat will get louder.
17:01Yeah, it's going to get louder if they lose.
17:02By the way, did you see...
17:04And I cringe, but I understand that Amik Robertson's just saying, yeah, it's a must.
17:09You know, we got to win.
17:10They're like, are you guaranteeing a win?
17:12He goes, well, you got to.
17:13Like, he's just saying it not to be a jerk.
17:15Yeah, yeah.
17:15He's not denigrating the Eagles at all.
17:17He's just saying it's a must-win situation.
17:18Well, it's obvious.
17:19We have to win.
17:19It's obvious.
17:20So then they asked him, Scott Abraham asked him the follow-up.
17:23Are you guaranteeing a win?
17:25And he goes, well, we have to.
17:26And I like it, but I do cringe as a fan, just go, because that always feels like it backfires.
17:32You know what I mean?
17:33It feels bulletin board material.
17:35Yeah, but I mean...
17:36It always feels like it comes back to heart.
17:37It's like the Eagles are going to play harder just because of Amik Robertson.
17:39I know, I know.
17:40And it'll probably have zero impact on the game.
17:42Yeah, right.
17:42But it's just one of those quotes that they will definitely come back.
17:46That'll be the first quote they play.
17:48But that's just how the media is.
17:49They want to draw something out of you.
17:51But it's clear that they need to win and have to win, yes.